Page 47 - Memory of the World filled with Color_revised Edition_online

Best Practice of 90 91
Early International Cooperation

and Indonesian Capability

The Restoration Project of Borobudur Temple is a significant achievement in the cultural
heritage conservation field for Indonesia and the world. For Indonesia, it was a moment
to prove its national capability in heritage preservation successfully. Funded by the
Indonesian government and international bodies, the Consultative Committee for the
Safeguarding of Borobudur supervised the project, consisting of local and international
experts. International cooperation was made in every requisite field; administration,
budget, and professional expertise. The collective endeavors resulted in and succeeded
in producing an archive of 71,851 photo sheets, 6,043 sheets of as-built drawing, 7,024
plates of negative glass, 13,512 slides of positive film, 65,741 exposes of negative film,
21 reels of celluloid film, and 425 numbers of project documents. Today, Borobudur
Conservation Office is continuing its efforts to protect the archives alongside the
National Archives of the Republic of Indonesia, assisting with capacity-building training
programmes for archive conservation at the Borobudur Conservation Office.

System and Technique

Based on the technical work, the project was divided into three sectors.
First, techno archeology, including structural measurement, restoration, and
stone masonry; second, chemico-archeology consisting of temple stone
conservation and documentation and lastly, archaeological excavation. The
documentation process, especially mapping and drawing, was crucial for its
initial arrangement. One of the utilized techniques was the photogrammetry
method. Tools such as the stereo camera – which produced two pictures on
an identical object but from a different angle with its two lenses – were able
to construct 3D perspectives, which helped obtain accurate architectural
images. A particular registration system was developed throughout
Borobudur to support stone masonry processes. Numbers and position
codes were sculpted on the stone surface before restoring and then were
put into the pallet box. Each pallet box was given a registration number
and sorted into buffer storage to be checked to fix any stone damage.
rearranged.
Final storage was used to store conserved stones, waiting its turn to be
Future Capacity Building

The site of Borobudur Temple and its archive is also a platform for training future
heritage practicians. The SEAMEO Project in Archaeology and Fine Arts (SPAFA),
founded by the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SAMEO) in 1978,
initiated its training in the Borobudur compound for conservators and restorers from
ASEAN country members such as Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Borobudur
Temple was designated as an education platform because of its availability of the
newest tools, technical facilities, and laboratory, alongside the merit of direct experience
practicing restoration and conservation methods on-site. Each state sends trainees
to learn about conservation, survey compilation, and monument restoration from the
Borobudur Temple project. After graduation, they are evaluated by SPAFA to guarantee
that they were placed into a suitable job so that the knowledge from the training could
be implemented well in Borobudur. Moreover, the knowledge from the training gave a

real contribution to the sender countries.